Method and device for allocating augmented reality-based virtual objects

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for a virtual objection distribution method are provided. One of the methods includes: performing an image scanning to a local environment of a user; conducting image identification to an acquired image; acquiring an electronic certificate from a server if an image identifier is identified in the image; saving the electronic certificate; and, in response to a determination that a category count of the received electronic certificates reaches the threshold, sending to the server a virtual object distribution request to cause the server to distribute a virtual object to the user. This method significantly increases interactivity and entertainingness of a virtual object distribution process.

CROSS-REFERENCE To RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/422,673, filed on May 24, 2019, which is acontinuation application of International Patent Application No.PCT/CN2017/114457, filed on Dec. 4, 2017, which is based on and claimspriority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 201611146660.6, filed onDec. 13, 2016 and entitled “METHOD AND DEVICE FOR ALLOCATING AUGMENTEDREALITY-BASED VIRTUAL OBJECTS.” The above-referenced applications areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the field of augmented reality (AR)technologies, in particular to a method and device for distributing anAR-based virtual object.

BACKGROUND

With the development of the Internet technologies, a variety of virtualobject distribution methods have emerged. In traditional Chinese orEastern Asian culture, a “red packet” may refer to a small red envelopewith some monetary gift in it. As a way to show a sender's blessing, ared packet may be sent to a family member or a friend as a gift inspecial occasions such as wedding, new year, etc. In the Internet era,virtual red packets, which may be sent and received through a mobiledevice such as a smartphone, are becoming increasingly popular. Takingthe virtual red packet distribution as an example, in conventionaldistribution methods, a user may include items such as an electronicgreeting card, gift cash, etc. into a virtual red packet and send it,through a mobile device, to another user or a group of users. Withincreasingly diverse distribution scenarios of virtual objects,increasing interactivity and entertainingness of a virtual objectdistribution process play an essential role in improving userexperiences of an associated application.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present specification can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media for exchange andsynchronization of status information of method and device fordistributing augmented reality-based virtual objects.

This application provides a virtual object distribution method. Thismethod includes performing an image scanning to a local environment of auser, conducting image identification to an image acquired by the imagescanning, and determining whether an image identifier is identified inthe image.

The virtual object distribution method may further include, in responseto a determination that the image identifier is identified in the image,acquiring an electronic certificate from a server, saving the electroniccertificate, determining whether a category count of received electroniccertificates reaches a threshold, and, in response to a determinationthat the category count reaches the threshold, sending to the server avirtual object distribution request. The virtual object distributionrequest may contain a plurality of electronic certificates that have acategory count equals to the threshold. In response to the virtualobject distribution request, the server may distribute a virtual objectto the user.

This application further provides a device for distributing a virtualobject. This device may comprise one or more processors and one or morenon-transitory machine-readable memories coupled to the one or moreprocessors and configured with instructions executable by the one ormore processors to cause the device to perform operations. Theoperations may include performing an image scanning to a localenvironment of a user, conducting image identification to an imageacquired by the image scanning, and determining whether an imageidentifier is identified in the image. The operations may furtherinclude, in response to a determination that the image identifier isidentified in the image, acquiring an electronic certificate from aserver, saving the electronic certificate, determining whether acategory count of received electronic certificates reaches a threshold,and, in response to a determination that the category count reaches thethreshold, sending to the server a virtual object distribution request.The virtual object distribution request may contain a plurality ofelectronic certificates that having a category count equals to thethreshold. In response to the virtual object distribution request, theserver may distribute a virtual object to the user.

This application further provides a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium associated with a virtual object distribution method,configured with instructions executable by one or more processors tocause the one or more processor to perform operations.

The operations may include performing an image scanning on a localenvironment of a user, conducting image identification to an imageacquired by the image scanning, and determining whether an imageidentifier is identified in the image. The operations may furtherinclude, in response to a determination that the image identifier isidentified in the image, acquiring an electronic certificate from aserver, saving the electronic certificate, determining whether acategory count of received electronic certificates reaches a threshold,and, in response to a determination that the category count reaches thethreshold, sending to the server a virtual object distribution request.The virtual object distribution request may contain a plurality ofelectronic certificates that having a category count equals to thethreshold. In response to the virtual object distribution request, theserver may distribute a virtual object to the user.

This application discloses an interactive method that, based onAugmented Reality (AR) technology, combines a user's online request fora virtual object with the user's image scanning operation on a localenvironment. The user may scan a local image that includes a presetimage identifier. The scanning may cause a server to distribute anelectronic certificate for obtaining a virtual object. The electroniccertificate received may be saved, and once a category count of thereceived electronic certificates reaches a preset threshold, the usermay send a distribution request to the server to request the server todistribute a virtual object. The distribution request may includeelectronic certificates that have a category count of the presetthreshold. Upon receiving the distribution request, the server mayselect a virtual object from a preset virtual object set and send it tothe user. This method significantly increases interactivity andentertainingness of a virtual object distribution process.

These and other features of the systems, methods, and non-transitorymachine-readable media disclosed herein, as well as the methods ofoperation and functions of the related elements of structure and thecombination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become moreapparent upon consideration of the following description and theappended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all ofwhich form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numeralsdesignate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to beexpressly understood, however, that the drawings are for purposes ofillustration and description only and are not intended as a definitionof the limits of the invention.

Embodiments of this application will be described in detail below withreference to the accompanying drawings to fully illustrate the purposes,characteristics and advantages of the aforementioned methods anddevices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart illustrating a virtual object distributionmethod for an AR client in this application.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an image scanninginterface of an AR client in this application.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an AR client scanning apreset image identifier to obtain a virtual blessing card in thisapplication.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an AR client displayingcollected virtual blessing cards in this application.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an AR client displayingcollected virtual blessing cards in this application.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an AR client displaying adistribution result of “five-blessing red packets” in this application.

FIG. 7 shows a logical block diagram illustrating a device fordistributing a virtual object for an AR client in this application.

FIG. 8 shows a hardware structural diagram illustrating an AR clienthosting a device for distributing a virtual object in this application.

FIG. 9 shows a logical block diagram illustrating a device fordistributing a virtual object for an AR client in this application.

FIG. 10 shows a hardware structure diagram illustrating an AR clienthosting a device for distributing a virtual object in this application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

This application provides an interactive method that, based on ARtechnology, combines a user's online request for a virtual object withthat user's image scanning operation on a local environment using an ARclient.

In some embodiments, a user can actively perform, using the AR client,an image scanning on a local image that includes a preset imageidentifier. The user then may send to image scanning result to an ARserver to cause the AR server to distribute to the AR client anelectronic certificate for obtaining a virtual object. The electroniccertificate the AR client receives may be saved in the AR client, andonce a category count of the received electronic certificates in the ARclient reaches a preset threshold, the user may send a distributionrequest to the AR server to request a virtual object distribution. Thedistribution request may include the received electronic certificatesthat have a category count of the preset threshold. Upon receiving thedistribution request, the AR server may select a virtual object from apreset virtual object set and send it to the user. This methodsignificantly increases interactivity and entertainingness of a virtualobject distribution process.

For example, in a scenario wherein the aforementioned virtual object isa “virtual red packet”, a user may scan a local image that includes apreset image identifier using an AR client to cause an AR server todistribute to the AR client an electronic certificate for obtaining ared packet. The electronic certificate the user received may be saved inthe AR client. Once a category count of the received electroniccertificates the user collected reaches a preset threshold, the user maysend a distribution request to the AR server to request a virtual redpacket distribution. The distribution request may include the receivedelectronic certificates that have a category count of the presetthreshold. Upon receiving the distribution request, the AR server mayselect a virtual red packet of a certain monetary amount from a preset“red packet cash pool” and send the virtual red packet to the user. Thismethod significantly increases interactivity and entertainingness of avirtual red packet distribution process.

This application will be described below through specific embodimentswith references to specific application scenarios.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart illustrating a virtual object distributionmethod for an AR client in this application. Referring to FIG. 1, thismethod may include the following steps.

At step 101: an AR client performs an image scanning on a localenvironment of a user.

At step 102: the AR client conducts image identification to an imageacquired by the image scanning

At step 103: an AR server determines whether an image identifier isidentified in the image, and, in response to a determination that theimage identifier is identified in the image, the AR client acquires anelectronic certificate from the AR server. The electronic certificatemay be used to acquire a virtual object.

At step 104: the AR client saves the received electronic certificate tothe AR client.

At step 105: the AR client determines whether a category count ofreceived electronic certificates in the AR client reaches a threshold;and, in response to a determination that the category count reaches thethreshold, the AR client sends to the AR server a virtual objectdistribution request. The virtual object distribution request maycontain a plurality of electronic certificates having a category countequals to the threshold.

At step 106: the AR server determines whether the category count of theelectronic certificates contained in the virtual object distributionrequest reaches the threshold, and if the category count reaches thethreshold, selects a virtual object from a virtual object set anddistributes it to the user based on a distribution rule.

The aforementioned AR client may be client software developed based onthe AR technology or those integrated with AR functions. For example, anAR client may be an Alipay client with AR service functions. The ARclient may be used for performing an image scanning on a localenvironment, transmitting the scanned image to the AR server in realtime, performing, through an AR engine of the AR client, visualrendering on virtual data received from the AR server, and superposingand integrating the virtual data with the scanned image data (such as areal scene image) of the local environment.

The aforementioned AR server may include a server providing services tothe AR client, a server cluster, or a cloud platform built based on theserver cluster. For example, the AR server may be a payment platformproviding docking services for an Alipay Application (APP) with ARservice functions. The AR server may be used for identifying the imagescanned by the AR client based on the AR engine in the background(obviously, the image identification process may also be completed bythe AR client based on the AR engine in the foreground). The AR servermay also be used for performing content management on virtual datarelated to a local business and pushing the related virtual data to theAR client based on an image identification result. For example, the ARserver may locally perform content management on an electroniccertificate for obtaining a virtual object and transmit the electroniccertificate to the AR client based on the image identification result.

The aforementioned virtual object may be any type of virtual articlewhich can be distributed online. For example, in some embodiments, thevirtual object may be a virtual red packet, digital money, or othermonetary gift.

The aforementioned electronic certificate may refer to a certificate forthe user to obtain a virtual object from the AR server. In someembodiments, the AR server can be preset with a certain number ofdifferent categories of electronic certificates and distribute differentcategories of electronic certificates to specific user groups accordingto a distribution rule. A specific form of the aforementioned electroniccertificate is not limited, and it may be a character string, a number,a character, a password, a virtual card, etc.

The aforementioned image identifier may include any form of imageidentifier which may be defined in advance on the AR server and may havea binding relationship with the electronic certificates preset on the ARserver for obtaining a virtual object. In some embodiments, thoseskilled in the art can customize the image identifier based on actualrequirements.

The technical solution shown in steps 101-106 will be described indetail below using an example wherein the aforementioned virtual objectis a virtual red packet.

Obviously, “virtual red packet” is just one possible example of thevirtual object. In some embodiments, other than a virtual red packet,the virtual object may also be other virtual article which can bedistributed and transmitted online, such as an electronic certificate,an electronic retail voucher, and an electronic coupon.

In some embodiments, a certain number of different categories ofelectronic certificates can be preset on the AR server, and the presetelectronic certificates may be associated with the image identifier. Auser may perform an image scanning on local environment that includesthe image identifier using the AR client to cause the AR server to sendto an electronic certificate for obtaining a virtual object to the ARclient. Upon receiving the electronic certificate, the AR client maysave the electronic certificate in the AR client.

When a category count of received electronic certificates in the ARclient reaches a preset threshold, the user may request the distributionof a red packet from the AR server. The AR client can actively send tothe AR server a red packet distribution request. The distributionrequest may contain a plurality of electronic certificates having acategory count equal to the preset threshold. Upon receiving thedistribution request, the AR server may select a red packet of a certainmonetary amount from a preset “red packet cash pool” and distribute itto the user. This method significantly increases the interactivity andentertainingness of a red packet distribution process.

For example, in a red packet distribution scenario of distributing “FiveBlessings Award” as shown in the drawings, the aforementioned electroniccertificates may include five types of virtual blessing cards, namely“health blessing”, “friendship blessing”, “prosperity blessing”, “familyblessing” and “wealth blessing”. The aforementioned image identifier maybe any type of image identifiers with a word “blessing” in it. The usermay actively scan the image identifier with the word “blessing” in thelocal environment using the AR client to cause the AR server to send anelectronic certificate (a virtual blessing card) to the AR client. Thevirtual blessing cards send from the AR server may be saved in the ARclient. After all five types of virtual blessing cards have beencollected, the AR client may send a distribution request to the ARserver to request a distribution of a red packet. Upon receiving thedistribution request from the AR client, the AR server may select a redpacket of a certain monetary amount and distribute it to the user.

The technical solution shown in steps 101-106 will be described indetail below in the three stages of “receiving electronic certificates”,“verifying category count of the electronic certificates” and“distributing red packets”.

(1) “Receiving Electronic Certificates”

In an initial state, a certain number of different categories ofelectronic certificates can be preset on the AR server. The presetelectronic certificates may be collectively managed by the AR server,and they may be the only certificates that allow the user to receive thedistribution of the red packets. The number and category count of thepreset electronic certificates may be set based on actual needs.

Besides the certain number of different categories of electroniccertificates, a preset image identifier may also be defined on the ARserver, and the preset image identifier may be associated with thepreset electronic certificates.

When a user finds any form of preset image identifier in the localenvironment, the user may perform an image scanning on the preset imageidentifier using an image scanning function of the AR client. The imagescanning may cause the AR server to send an electronic certificate tothe AR client. The electronic certificates the AR client received may besaved in the AR client and may be used to request a distribution of ared packet from the AR sever.

In some embodiments, the AR client may provide an image scanningfunction to the user by default. For example, the image scanningfunction may be a “scanning” button provided for the user in a userhomepage of the AR client. When the user needs to perform an imagescanning on the local preset image identifier using the AR client, theuser may use the image scanning function by “clicking” on the button orby other methods to enter an image scanning interface of the AR client.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an image scanninginterface of an AR client in this application.

Referring to FIG. 2, in the aforementioned image scanning interface ofthe AR client, in addition to providing the user with the traditional“scan code” button and other functional buttons, an “AR red packet”function button may also be provided. By “clicking” the button or byother methods, the user may cause the AR client to enter the imagescanning interface to complete the image scanning operation on thepreset image identifier in the local environment of the user.

In some embodiments, the image scanning interface may be a real-timescanning interface. That is, a background picture of the image scanninginterface can be a real scene picture of the user's local environment.

Referring back to FIG. 2, after the AR client enters the image scanninginterface shown in FIG. 2, an image scanning prompt may be furtherdisplayed in the image scanning page.

The aforementioned image scanning prompt may include a dynamic scanningframe for prompting the user to perform an image scanning on the localenvironment, and a prompt text displayed in the image scanning page.

As shown in FIG. 2, the aforementioned image scanning prompt may includea circular scanning frame dynamically rotating at a center of thepicture, and a prompt text of “aim and scan” permanently displayed belowthe scanning frame.

The content of the prompt text can be dynamically updated in actualapplications. For example, when the AR client scans the localenvironment, the prompt text can be updated to “scanning”; and when theAR client fails to identify any local target through a loaded imageidentification algorithm, resulting in a failure of this scanning, theprompt text can be updated to “please keep the lens stable”, “tryanother place”, or other similar texts prompting the user to scan again.

In some embodiments, after the AR client displays the image scanningprompt in the image scanning page, the AR client can use a camera on anAR terminal (e.g., smart phone, or AR glasses) to perform an imagescanning on the local environment of the user. Then image identificationmay be conducted on the scanned real scene image.

The AR client may perform image identification on the scanned imagebased on a client image identification model on the AR client.Alternatively, the AR client may upload the scanned image to the ARserver, so that the AR server may perform image identification based ona server image identification model on the AR server.

In some embodiments, the client image identification model may be loadedto the AR client. After scanning the image of the local environmentusing the camera of the AR client, the AR client can continue to performimage identification on the scanned image based on the client imageidentification model. After the image identification, the AR client mayupload the identification result to the AR server.

In some embodiments, the AR client may not be loaded with the clientimage identification model and therefore does not perform imageidentification. Instead, the AR client may upload the scanned image tothe AR server, so that the AR server may perform image identification onscanned image based on a server image identification model loaded on theAR server. After the image identification, the identification resultwill be sent back to the AR client.

Any image identification algorithm that is well known to persons ofordinary skill in the art may be used for the image identification.Those skilled in the art may refer to records in relevant technologieswhen implementing the technical solution of this application. Forexample, in one implementation, the aforementioned image identificationmodel may be a depth learning model based on neural network trainingcombined with a large number of image identification samples.

In some embodiments, after the image identification, the AR server maydetermine whether the aforementioned preset image identifier isidentified in the image scanned by the AR client. If it is determinedthat the preset image identifier is successfully identified in the realscene image scanned by the AR client, the AR server may select acorresponding electronic certificate from a preset electroniccertificate set and distribute it to the user through the AR client.

In some embodiments, when selecting an electronic certificate, the ARserver may randomly select an electronic certificate from the presetelectronic certificate set.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the AR server may select anelectronic certificate from the preset electronic certificate set basedon a preset distribution rule.

When distributing the electronic certificate to the AR client, the ARserver may directly distribute the electronic certificate to the ARclient. Alternatively, the AR server may only distribute a uniqueidentifier corresponding to the electronic certificate to the AR client.In the latter case, a correspondence between the unique identifier andthe electronic certificate may be saved locally in the AR client, andsubsequently the AR client may identify the corresponding electroniccertificate through the unique identifier.

In an example that an electronic certificate is a virtual card, the ARserver may directly distribute a virtual card to the AR client.Alternatively, the AR server may generate a unique correspondingidentifier for the virtual card and distribute only the identifier tothe AR client. Upon receiving the identifier, the AR client may render acorresponding virtual card based on the identifier and display itlocally.

In some embodiments, in order to prevent the electronic certificatesfrom being counterfeited, the AR server may encrypt the electroniccertificates through a preset encryption algorithm before distributingthe electronic certificates to the AR client. After receiving anencrypted electronic certificate, the AR client may decrypt theelectronic certificate with a decryption key corresponding to theencryption algorithm. In this way, the electronic certificates can beprevented from being counterfeited by malicious users.

In some embodiments, a category count of the electronic certificatesdistributed by the AR server to the AR client may be smaller than theabove predetermined threshold. That is, the number of categories of theelectronic certificates transmitted by the AR server to the AR clientwill be smaller than the preset threshold.

In the aforementioned example, the electronic certificates are visualcards, and a user needs to receive all five categories of electroniccertificates (virtual cards) before he/she can send the AR server adistribution request for a red packet. When the AR server distributesthe electronic certificates (virtual cards) to the AR client, thecategory count of the electronic certificates (virtual cards) in eachdistribution may be a number less than five (e.g., three). Thus, anumber of users that can request the distribution of a red packet can beeffectively controlled.

In addition, the distribution rule adopted by the AR server indistributing the electronic certificates to the AR client may also becustomized according to actual needs.

In some embodiments, the aforementioned distribution rule may includeselectively distributing to specific groups of people.

In some embodiments, the electronic certificate set in the AR server maycomprise a low-frequency certificate set and a high-frequencycertificate set. The electronic certificates in the low-frequencycertificate set may be distributed to specific users designated by theAR server, while the electronic certificates in the high-frequencycertificate set can be distributed to ordinary users.

In some embodiments, the aforementioned specific users may refer tousers with a high activity level. When distributing electroniccertificates, the AR server may give preferences to users with highactivity levels. That is, users with high activity levels may be givenpriority when receiving electronic certificates in the low-frequencycertificate set, while electronic certificates in the high-frequencycertificate set may be distributed to all the users without anypreference.

More specifically, when distributing an electronic certificate to auser, the AR server may first calculate an activity level of that user,and then compare the calculated activity level with an activitythreshold to determine whether the user is an active user. If theactivity level of the user reaches the activity threshold, the AR servermay determine that the user is an active user and may select anelectronic certificate from the low-frequency certificate set anddistribute it to the user through the AR client.

In some embodiments, upon determining that a user is an active user, theAR server may select electronic certificates exclusively from thelow-frequency certificate set and send the same to the user.Alternatively, the AR server may also select electronic certificatesfrom both the low-frequency certificate set and the high-frequencycertificate set and send the same to the user. In the latter case, atleast one of the electronic certificates selected and sent to the usercomes from the low-frequency certificate set. For ordinary users withlow activity, the AR server may only select electronic certificates fromthe high-frequency certificate set and send the same to those users.

In the embodiments described above, users with high activity levels are“rewarded” with higher chances of obtaining relatively “rare” electroniccertificates from the low-frequency certificate set than ordinary users.That encourages more user participation to an associated application.

When the AR server calculates an activity level of a user, the activitylevel can be characterized based on parameters related to the dailyactivities of the user. For example, in some embodiments, it may bedefined that the more friends a user has, or the more services a useruses, the higher activity level the user has. Therefore, the parametersrelated to the daily activities may include a number of friends of theuser, a number of services used, etc. When calculating an activity levelof a user, the AR server may count the number of friends of the user orthe number of services used by the user and determine whether the useris an active user by comparing those numbers with correspondingthresholds.

In some embodiments, the parameters characterizing an activity level ofa user are not limited to the number of friends and the number ofservices used, as described above. Other parameters that cancharacterize the activity level of a user may also be used to calculatethe activity level of the user.

In some embodiments, in addition to scanning the preset image identifierin the local environment through the AR client to cause the AR server todistribute an electronic certificate to the AR client, the user may alsoreceive an electronic certificate by acquiring an electronic certificateshared by another user through the same AR client.

For example, in the example wherein the electronic certificate is avisual card, the AR client may be an Alipay client with AR servicefunctions, and the Alipay client may have a sharing interface. A sharinguser may share a virtual card to the user within the Alipay clientthrough the sharing user's own Alipay client. Alternatively, the sharinguser may share a virtual card on a third-party social platform orinstant messaging software in the form of a link or a clickablepicture/text through the sharing interface provided by the Alipayclient. After receiving the virtual card shared by a sharing user, theuser may save the electronic certificate to the AR client by clicking onthe link or the clickable picture/text.

In some embodiments, after receiving the electronic certificatedistributed by the AR server by scanning the preset image identifier,the AR client may generate a display picture corresponding to theelectronic certificate, and then perform visual rendering on the displaypicture based on an AR engine of the AR client. The display picture maybe superposed and integrated with the real scene image based on aposition of the preset image identifier in the image and beaugmentatively displayed to the user at a position corresponding to theimage identifier in the image. A receiving option corresponding to thedisplay picture may be displayed in the image.

A detail implementation of the aforementioned augment displaying schemeis not limited in this application. In some implementations, the displaypicture may be dynamically popped up and dynamically displayed startingfrom the position corresponding to the preset image identifier in theimage.

The aforementioned receiving option may be a function button forreceiving an electronic certificate corresponding to the displaypicture. A user may trigger the function button by “clicking” or othermethods to receive an electronic certificate corresponding to thedisplay picture, to add the generated display picture to a local displayposition corresponding to the electronic certificate, and to save theelectronic certificates in the AR client.

The display picture generated by the AR client for the electroniccertificate may correspond to a type of the electronic certificate.Therefore, display pictures corresponding to different categories ofelectronic certificates may be different from each other. The contentsshown in the aforementioned display picture is not particularly limited.Meanwhile, a local display position provided by the AR client in a userinterface may also correspond to a type of the electronic certificate,therefore local display positions corresponding to different categoriesof electronic certificates may be different.

In addition, after adding the generated display picture to thecorresponding display position, the AR client may display a number ofthe currently obtained electronic certificates on the local displayposition. For example, a digital reminder may be generated in an upperright corner of the display position. Moreover, when the number of acertain type of electronic certificates changes, the AR client can alsoupdate the corresponding number displayed on the local display positionbased on a number of remaining electronic certificates.

In some embodiments, a user can share the electronic certificates witheach other. More specifically, a user may share the electroniccertificate corresponding to the display picture with other users by“triggering” the display picture in the local display position.

In some embodiments, in response to an image-triggering operation of theuser on the display picture, a sharing page comprising a plurality ofapplications may be entered. Then, the user may share the electroniccertificate corresponding to the display picture to a third-party userdesignated by the user through one of the applications designated by theuser in the sharing page.

For example, when a user wants to share a certain type of electroniccertificate to a target user, the user can activate a local displayposition of the display picture corresponding to that type of electroniccertificate by clicking or other methods. When the local displayposition is activated, the display picture corresponding to the localdisplay position may be displayed in the user interface.

At this time, a sharing option can be provided in the display picture.For example, when the electronic certificate is a virtual card, thesharing option can be a clickable option of “send one to a friend”.After the user activates the clickable option through a triggeringoperation such as a clicking, the AR client may display a sharing modeselection interface in which several target applications that can beselected by the user are provided. Then, the user may designate acorresponding target application in the selection interface, and thenfurther designate a target user to share in the target application. Whenthe designations are completed, the AR client can distribute theelectronic certificate to the target user designated by the user.

When a target user the user shared with is a contact or a friend of theuser in the AR client, the user may share the electronic certificatewithin the AR client. In this case, the AR client may send theto-be-shared electronic certificate to the AR client of the target userthrough the AR server.

On the other hand, if the target user is not a contact or a friend ofthe user in the AR client, but a contact or a friend of the user in athird-party client, the user may also share the electronic certificatewith the target user through the third-party client. In this case, theAR client may generate a corresponding access link for the to-be-sharedelectronic certificate through the AR server, and share the access linkto the target user through the third-party client.

(2) “Verification of Category Count of Electronic Certificates”

In some embodiments, after a user receives electronic certificatesthrough one of the two receiving methods described above, the AR clientmay determine in the background whether a category count of receivedelectronic certificates reaches a preset threshold. If the presetthreshold is reached, the user may send a virtual object distributionrequest (in this case, a virtual red packet distribution request) to theAR server. The distribution request may include a plurality ofelectronic certificates, and a category count of the included electroniccertificates may equal to the preset threshold.

In some embodiments, in the virtual red packet distribution request, thenumber of the electronic certificates and the category count of theelectronic certificates may both equal to the preset threshold (i.e.,one electronic certificate per category). Upon receiving the virtualobject distribution request, the AR server may collect the electroniccertificates in the distribution request and verify that the categorycount of the electronic certificates reaches the preset threshold.

The AR client may automatically send the virtual object distributionrequest (the virtual red packet distribution request) once it determinesthat category count of the received electronic certificates reaches afirst number. Alternatively, the distribution request may be triggeredby a user input.

For example, when the AR client determines in the background that thecategory count of the received electronic certificates reaches a firstnumber, the AR client may automatically send a virtual red packetdistribution request to the AR server. Alternatively, a trigger buttonfor the AR client to send a virtual object distribution request to theAR server may be provided at the display position corresponding to theelectronic certificate. When the AR client determines in the backgroundthat the category count of received electronic certificates reaches thepreset threshold, the AR client may display a prompt and a correspondingactionable button to the user to remind the user that a distributionrequest for a virtual object (a red packet) is available. Once the usertriggers the operation by, for example, clicking the actionable button,the AR client may send the virtual object distribution request (the redpacket distribution request) to the AR server.

In some embodiments, the AR server may verify the category count of theelectronic certificates contained in the red packet distribution requestfrom the AR client. If the AR server determines that the category countof the electronic certificates contained in the red packet distributionrequest reaches the preset threshold, a permission of distributing a redpacket may be granted, and a red packet of a certain monetary amount maybe immediately distributed to the user from the preset “red packet cashpool” (equivalent to the above preset virtual object set) based on apreset distribution rule. Alternatively, a red packet of a certainmonetary amount may also be distributed to the user from the preset “redpacket cash pool” based on the preset distribution rule at a specificred packet distribution time.

(3) “Distribution of Red Packets”

In some embodiments, the distribution rule adopted by the AR server fordistributing a red packet to the user from the preset “red packet cashpool” may be made based on actual business requirements.

In some embodiments, the AR server may count a number of users who havebeen granted the permission of distributing the red packets, andcalculate an average per-user monetary amount for all the red packets tobe distributed in the “red packet cash pool” based on the counted usernumber. In this application, the calculated per-user monetary amount isan average monetary amount in a red packet to be distributed to eachuser. The AR server may distribute a red packet having a correspondingamount from the “red packet cash pool” to each user based on the averageper-user monetary amount.

In some embodiments, the AR server may also send a red packet of arandom monetary amount from the “red packet cash pool” when distributinga red packet to a user. For example, the AR server may calculate arandom monetary amount for a user based on a preset randomizationalgorithm combined with the total amount of red packets to bedistributed in the “red packet cash pool”. The AR server then maydistribute a red packet of that random monetary amount to the user.

Obviously, in addition to the distribution rules described above, otherdistribution rules may also be used in actual applications.

In some embodiments, after successfully distributing the red packets tothe users, the AR server may also send a distribution result to the ARclient where the user is located. The AR client may display thedistribution result to the user after receiving the distribution result.

The distribution result may include one or more of a total monetaryamount of distributed red packets, a sender of the distributed redpackets, other receivers of the distributed red packets, a number ofother receivers, and a distribution rule.

The technical solution in these embodiments will be described in detailbelow with reference to specific application scenarios.

In a red packet distribution scenario of “Five Blessings Award” as shownin FIGS. 4 and 5, the AR client may be a payment client with AR servicefunctions, and the AR server may be a payment platform with AR servicefunctions. The AR server may be connected with an Alipay client. Thevirtual object set in the AR server may be a corporation account of aparticipating corporation cooperating with the payment platform. A totalmonetary amount of all the distributable red packets may be a balance ofthe corporation account.

In this example, the aforementioned electronic certificates may includefive types of virtual blessing cards, namely “health blessing”,“friendship blessing”, “prosperity blessing”, “family blessing” and“wealth blessing”. The aforementioned preset image identifier can be anytype of image identifier with the word “blessing” in a local environmentof the user.

The user may actively scan the image identifier with the word “blessing”in the local environment using the AR client. The scanning may cause theAR server to distribute an electronic certificate (a virtual blessingcard) to the AR client. Upon receiving all five types of electroniccertificates (virtual blessing cards) from the AR server, the user willhave a privilege to request a distribution of a red packet. The ARserver may send the red packet to the user upon receiving thedistribution request.

Among the five types of virtual blessing cards, the payment platform candesignate some types as “rare” virtual blessing cards. For example, twoof the five types of the virtual blessing cards may be designated as“rare” cards. The distribution of such “rare” virtual blessing cardsdepends on an activity level of the user, which may be calculated by thepayment platform based on user data. That is, such “rare” virtual cardscan be preferably or exclusively distributed to users who have highactivity levels. On the other hand, for ordinary users who may not havehigh activity levels, the payment platform may only distribute the otherthree “regular” types of virtual blessing cards to them as a defaultrule.

When an image identifier with the word “blessing” is found in the localenvironment (for example, when a user sees a sticker with the word“blessing” in it), the user can perform an image scanning on the imageidentifier using the image scanning function of the AR client. The imagescanning may cause the AR server to send a virtual blessing card to theAR client.

After the user completes the image scanning on the image identifier withthe word “blessing” at the prompt of the image scanning prompt, whichmay be displayed in the image scanning interface as shown in FIG. 2, theAR client may perform image identification on the scanned image. Basedon the image identification result, the AR server can determine whetherthe image identifier with the word “blessing” is identified in the imagescanned by the AR client. If the image identifier with the word“blessing” is identified, the AR server may send an electroniccertificate (in this case, a virtual blessing card) to the user throughthe AR client.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an AR client scanning apreset image identifier to obtain a virtual blessing card in thisapplication. Referring to FIG. 3, after obtaining a virtual blessingcard from the AR server, the AR client may perform visual rendering onthe virtual blessing card based on the AR engine in the foreground ofthe AR client. The visual rendering of the virtual blessing card may besuperposed and integrated with the image based on a position of theimage identifier in the image. The visual rendering of the virtualblessing card may be augmentatively displayed to the user (for example,as shown in FIG. 3, a “prosperity blessing” virtual blessing card isdisplayed on the AR client), and a “take the blessing card” functionbutton may be displayed at a position corresponding to the AR virtualblessing card, as shown in FIG. 3. The user may click the “take theblessing card” function button to confirm the reception of theelectronic certificate (virtual blessing card).

In some embodiments, the user may trigger the “take the blessing card”function button by “clicking” the corresponding button or by othermethods. In response to the user's option-triggering operation, the ARclient may generate a display picture corresponding to the virtual cardand display the display picture in an active interface. The contents onthe display pictures generated by the AR client for different types ofvirtual cards may be different from each other. Display positionsprovided by the client for virtual blessing cards can correspond to thetypes of virtual cards, and each type of virtual cards can correspond toone display position respectively.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an AR client displayingcollected virtual blessing cards in this application. Referring to FIG.4, the AR client may provide a display location for each of the fivetypes of virtual blessing cards, namely “health blessing”, “friendshipblessing”, “prosperity blessing”, “family blessing” and “wealthblessing”, in the user interface. After adding the display picture tothe corresponding display position, the client may also mark a numberfor each type of electronic certificates acquired (the correspondingvirtual cards received) at a preset local display position (for example,upper right corner as shown in FIG. 4). The AR client may update thenumber of acquired electronic certificates when it changes. The numberof acquired electronic certificates may increase when new electroniccertificate is received from the AR server, or decrease when the ARclient sends a distribution request that includes a plurality ofelectronic certificates to the AR server.

When the user successfully receives all five types of virtual cards,namely “health blessing”, “friendship blessing”, “prosperity blessing”,“family blessing” and “wealth blessing”, by acquiring the virtual cardsfrom the payment platform or from other friends, the user may obtain aprivilege to request a distribution of a virtual object, which, in thiscase, is a “Five Blessings” red packet.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an AR client displayingcollected virtual blessing cards in this application. Referring to FIG.5, the AR client may provide a display location for “Five Blessings” inthe user interface after the user successfully receives all five typesof virtual cards, namely “health blessing”, “friendship blessing”,“prosperity blessing”, “family blessing” and “wealth blessing”. Thedisplay location of “five blessings” can be highlighted, such as bycolor, to remind the user that the user currently has a privilege torequest a “five blessings” red packet.

After the user obtains the privilege of receiving a “five blessings” redpacket, the user can manually click the “five blessings” displayposition to cause the AR client to send a red packet distributionrequest to the AR server (the payment platform). Alternatively, the ARclient may automatically send a red packet distribution request to theAR server (the payment platform). The red packet distribution requestmay contain all five types of received virtual cards. Upon receiving thedistribution request, the payment platform may verify that all fivetypes of the virtual cards are present in the distribution request. Ifthe payment platform determines that the distribution request containsall five types of virtual cards, the payment platform may immediatelydistribute a red packet of a certain monetary amount. The monetarybalance of the red packet may come the aforementioned corporationaccount. Alternatively, the payment platform may choose to send a redpacket of a certain monetary amount to the user at a certaindistribution time. The payment platform may determine the number of allusers who obtain the privilege of receiving the “five blessings” redpackets, and divide the available fund in the corporation accountevenly, so that each user may receive substantially same monetary valuein the red packet they received.

After the user receives a red packet, the payment platform can push ared packet distribution result to the client, and the client can displaythe distribution result to the user in the activity interface.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an AR client displaying adistribution result of “five-blessing red packets” in this application.Referring to FIG. 6, information displayed in the red packetdistribution result may include a monetary amount in the red packetreceived, a sender of the red packet (name of the corporationcooperating with the payment platform), a total number of peoplereceived the “Five Blessings” red packets, an distribution rule of the“Five Blessings” red packets (the distribution rule shown in FIG. 6 isaverage distribution), etc.

Corresponding to the aforementioned methods of distributing a virtualobject, this application further provides a device for distributing avirtual object for an AR client.

FIG. 7 shows a logical block diagram illustrating a device fordistributing a virtual object for an AR client in this application. FIG.8 shows a hardware structural diagram illustrating an AR client hostinga device for distributing a virtual object in this application.Referring to FIG. 8, an AR client hosting the device 70 for distributinga virtual object may include a CPU, a memory, a non-volatile storagemedium, a network interface, and an internal bus, etc. Taking softwareimplementation as an example, the device 70 for distributing a virtualobject may be generally understood as a logic device formed by running acomputer program loaded in the memory by the CPU. The device 70 may beconsidered a combination of software and hardware.

The device 70 may include a scanning module 701 which, in response to animage scanning operation of a user, performs an image scanning on alocal environment of the user, an acquiring module 702 which performsimage identification with respect to an image acquired by the scanning,and acquires an electronic certificate transmitted from an AR serverwhen a preset image identifier is identified in the image. The acquiringmodule 702 may, upon receiving the electronic certificate, save theelectronic certificate locally. The received electronic certificates maybe used for obtaining a virtual object.

The device 70 may further include a first determining module 703 whichdetermines whether a category count of received electronic certificatesreaches a preset threshold, and a sending module 704 which sends to theAR server a virtual object distribution request. The virtual objectdistribution request may contain a plurality of electronic certificateshaving a category count equal to the preset threshold. If the categorycount of the received electronic certificates reaches the presetthreshold, the AR server may select a virtual object from a presetvirtual object set and distribute it to the user.

In the aforementioned device, the acquiring module 702 may perform imageidentification on the scanned image based on a client imageidentification model saved in the AR client, and send a request for anelectronic certificate to the AR server when the preset image identifieris identified in the image. The AR client may acquire the electroniccertificate transmitted from the AR server upon receiving the request.

Alternatively, in the aforementioned device, the acquiring module 702may also upload the scanned image to the AR server, so that the ARserver can perform image identification on the image based on a serverimage identification model saved on the AR server.

The acquiring module 702 may acquire the electronic certificatetransmitted from the AR server when the preset image identifier isidentified in the image.

In the aforementioned device, the acquiring module 702 may furtheracquire a shared electronic certificate shared by another user locallyand saves the shared electronic certificate to the AR client.

The acquiring module 702 may generate a display picture corresponding tothe electronic certificate, augmentatively display the display pictureat a position corresponding to the preset image identifier in the image,and display a receiving option corresponding to the display picture inthe image.

The acquiring module 702 may display the display picture at a localdisplay position corresponding to the electronic certificate in responseto an option-triggering operation of the user on the receiving option.The display pictures corresponding to different categories of electroniccertificates may be different, and local display positions correspondingto different categories of electronic certificates may be different.

In some embodiments, the acquiring module 702 may display a number ofacquired electronic certificates on the local display position, andupdate the number based on a number of remaining electroniccertificates.

In some embodiments, the device 70 may further include a sharing module705 (not shown in FIG. 7) which, upon detecting a preset triggeringoperation on any display picture of the user, enters a sharing pagecorresponding to a target user. The sharing page may include a pluralityof preset target applications. The sharing module 705 may share theelectronic certificate corresponding to the display picture to athird-party user designated by the user through the target applicationdesignated by the user in the sharing page.

In this embodiment, the device 70 may further include a first receivingmodule 706 (not shown in FIG. 7) which receives a distribution result ofthe virtual objects sent by the AR server and displays the distributionresult to the user. The distribution result may include one or more ofthe following information: a number of distributed virtual objects, asender of the distributed virtual objects, a number of other receiversof the distributed virtual objects, and a distribution rule.

In some embodiments, the virtual object may be a virtual red packet.

FIG. 9 shows a logical block diagram illustrating a device fordistributing a virtual object for an AR server in this application. FIG.10 shows a hardware structure diagram illustrating an AR server hostinga device for distributing a virtual object in this application.Referring to FIG. 10, an AR server hosting a device 90 for distributinga virtual object may include a CPU, a memory, a non-volatile storagemedium, a network interface, and an internal bus, etc. Taking softwareimplementation as an example, the device 90 for distributing a virtualobject may be generally understood as a logic device formed by running acomputer program loaded in the memory by the CPU. The device 90 may beconsidered a combination of software and hardware.

The device 90 may include a second determining module 901 which, inresponse to a user performing, using an AR client, an image scanning ona local environment, determines whether a preset image identifier isidentified in an image acquired by the AR client, and a transmittingmodule 902 which transmits to the AR client an electronic certificate ifthe preset image identifier is identified in the image. The electroniccertificate may be used for obtaining a virtual object.

The device 90 may further comprise a second receiving module 903 whichreceives a virtual object distribution request sent by the AR client,and a third determining module 904 which determines whether a categorycount of the electronic certificates contained in the virtual objectdistribution request reaches a preset threshold. The object distributionrequest may contain a plurality of electronic certificates for obtaininga virtual object.

The device 90 may further include a distributing module 905 whichdistributes a virtual object from a preset virtual object set to theuser based on a preset distribution rule, if the category count of theelectronic certificates contained in the virtual object distributionrequest reaches the preset threshold.

In the aforementioned device, the transmitting module 902 may randomlyselect an electronic certificate from a local preset electroniccertificate set and send it to the AR client.

Alternatively, the transmitting module 902 may select an electroniccertificate from the local preset electronic certificate set accordingto a preset distribution rule and send the electronic certificate to theAR client.

In some embodiments, the category count of the electronic certificatestransmitted from the AR server to the AR client may be smaller than thepreset threshold.

In some embodiments, the local preset electronic certificate set mayinclude a low-frequency certificate set and a high-frequency certificateset.

The transmitting module 902 may be further configured to calculate anactivity level of the user and determine whether the activity level ofthe user reaches an activity threshold. If the activity level reachesthe activity threshold, the transmitting module 902 may select anelectronic certificate from the low-frequency certificate set and sendit to the AR client. Alternatively, the transmitting module 902 may alsoselect electronic certificates from the low-frequency certificate setand the high-frequency certificate set and send the electroniccertificates to the AR client. At least one electronic certificateselected by the transmitting module 902 may come from the low-frequencycertificate set.

In some embodiments, the transmitting module 902 may be furtherconfigured to send a distribution result of the virtual objects to theAR client when the distribution of a virtual object to the user iscompleted. The AR client may display the distribution result to theuser. The distribution result may include one or more of the followinginformation: a number of distributed virtual objects, a sender of thedistributed virtual objects, a number of other receivers of thedistributed virtual objects, and a distribution rule.

One of ordinary skill in the art can understand details about theoperation and processes of the system and apparatus described above byreferring to corresponding processes in the method embodiments describedabove. In some embodiments, the division of the modules may be logicalor functional. Alternative methods of division may be used. Multiplemodules or components may be combined or integrated into another system.Some features may be omitted or not executed. The mutual coupling,direct coupling, or communication connection that is illustrated ordiscussed may be replaced by indirect coupling or communicationconnection through suitable communication interfaces, apparatuses, ormodules, which may be electrical, mechanical, or in other suitableforms.

Each of the processes, methods, and algorithms described in thepreceding sections may be embodied in, and fully or partially automatedby, software or code modules executed by one or more computer systems orcomputer processors comprising computer hardware. The processes andalgorithms may be implemented partially or wholly inapplication-specific circuitry.

The software or code modules may be implemented as separated sections orblocks of program code. One or more of the software or code modules mayalternatively be integrated into one section or block of program code.When the functions disclosed herein are implemented in the form ofsoftware functional modules and sold or used as independent products,they can be stored in a processor executable non-volatile computerreadable storage medium. Particular technical solutions disclosed herein(in whole or in part) or aspects that contributes to currenttechnologies may be embodied in the form of a software product. Thesoftware product may be stored in a storage medium, comprising a numberof instructions to cause a computing device (which may be a personalcomputer, a server, a network device, and the like) to execute all orsome steps of the methods of the embodiments of the present application.The storage medium may comprise a flash drive, a portable hard drive,ROM, RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disc, another medium operable tostore program code, or any combination thereof.

Particular embodiments further provide a system comprising a processorand a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storinginstructions executable by the processor to cause the system to performoperations corresponding to steps in any method of the embodimentsdisclosed above. Particular embodiments further provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium configured with instructions executableby one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to performoperations corresponding to steps in any method of the embodimentsdisclosed above.

Embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented through a cloudplatform, a server or a server group (hereinafter collectively the“service system”) that interacts with a client. The client may be aterminal device, or a client registered by a user at a platform, whereinthe terminal device may be a mobile terminal, a personal computer (PC),and any device that may be installed with a platform applicationprogram.

The various features and processes described above may be usedindependently of one another or may be combined in various ways. Allpossible combinations and sub-combinations are intended to fall withinthe scope of this specification. In addition, certain method or processblocks may be omitted in some implementations. The methods and processesdescribed herein are also not limited to any particular sequence, andthe blocks or states relating thereto can be performed in othersequences that are appropriate. For example, described blocks or statesmay be performed in an order other than that specifically disclosed, ormultiple blocks or states may be combined in a single block or state.The example blocks or states may be performed in serial, in parallel, orin some other manner Blocks or states may be added to or removed fromthe disclosed example embodiments. The exemplary systems and componentsdescribed herein may be configured differently than described. Forexample, elements may be added to, removed from, or rearranged comparedto the disclosed example embodiments.

The various operations of exemplary methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by an algorithm. The algorithm may becomprised in program codes or instructions stored in a memory (e.g., anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium described above). Suchalgorithm may comprise a machine learning algorithm. In someembodiments, a machine learning algorithm may not explicitly programcomputers to perform a function but can learn from training data to makea predictions model that performs the function.

The various operations of exemplary methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented enginesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions describedherein.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented engines. Moreover, the one or more processors mayalso operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application ProgramInterface (API)).

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployedacross a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processorsor processor-implemented engines may be located in a single geographiclocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or aserver farm). In other example embodiments, the processors orprocessor-implemented engines may be distributed across a number ofgeographic locations.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Although an overview of the subject matter has been described withreference to specific example embodiments, various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader scope of embodiments of the present specification. Suchembodiments of the subject matter may be referred to herein,individually or collectively, by the term “invention” merely forconvenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of thisapplication to any single disclosure or concept if more than one is, infact, disclosed.

The embodiments illustrated herein are described in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed.Other embodiments may be used and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this specification. The DetailedDescription, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and thescope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims,along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims areentitled.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, plural instances may be provided forresources, operations, or structures described herein as a singleinstance. Additionally, boundaries between various resources,operations, engines, and data stores are somewhat arbitrary, andparticular operations are illustrated in a context of specificillustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality areenvisioned and may fall within a scope of various embodiments of thepresent specification. In general, structures and functionalitypresented as separate resources in the example configurations may beimplemented as a combined structure or resource. Similarly, structuresand functionality presented as a single resource may be implemented asseparate resources. These and other variations, modifications,additions, and improvements fall within a scope of embodiments of thepresent specification as represented by the appended claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

The term “include” or “comprise” is used to indicate the existence ofthe subsequently declared features, but it does not exclude the additionof other features. Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,”“could,” “might,” or “may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, orotherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intendedto convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments donot include, certain features, elements and/or steps. Thus, suchconditional language is not generally intended to imply that features,elements and/or steps are in any way required for one or moreembodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logicfor deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether thesefeatures, elements and/or steps are included or are to be performed inany particular embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A virtual object distribution method, comprising:acquiring an image of a local environment of a user; identifying animage identifier in the image, the image identifier being a part of thelocal environment and associated with a category of a plurality ofcategories; after the image identifier being identified, acquiring anelectronic certificate of the category from a server; determiningwhether a number of categories of acquired electronic certificates meetsa threshold; in response to determining that the number of categoriesmeets the threshold, sending a request for the virtual object to theserver; and receiving, from the server, the virtual object.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: displaying a plurality ofpictures corresponding to the acquired electronic certificates, whereineach of the plurality of pictures corresponds to one of the plurality ofcategories.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: beforeacquiring the image of the local environment, displaying a prompt on areal-time scanning interface having a background picture that is a realscene image of the local environment.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereindisplaying the plurality of pictures, comprises: superposing andintegrating the plurality of pictures with the real scene image of thelocal environment, wherein each of the plurality of pictures is locatedat a position corresponding to the image identifier in the image of thelocal environment.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of theplurality of pictures includes a number of the acquired electroniccertificates of a category that the picture corresponds to.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, further comprising: displaying a sharing control on afirst picture of the plurality of pictures for sharing an acquiredelectronic certificate of the category that the first picturecorresponds to; and in response to a user input selecting the sharingcontrol, displaying a sharing interface for the user to share theacquired electronic certificate of the category that the first picturecorresponds to.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the prompt includes acircular scanning frame dynamically rotating at a center of thebackground picture and text prompting the user to acquire the image ofthe local environment.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:dynamically updating the text according to a result of identifying theimage identifier in the image.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theelectronic certificate is a virtual card and the virtual object is avirtual packet of a monetary amount.
 10. A device, comprising one ormore processors and one or more non-transitory machine-readable memoriescoupled to the one or more processors and configured with instructionsexecutable by the one or more processors to cause the device to performoperations comprising: acquiring an image of a local environment of auser; identifying an image identifier in the image, the image identifierbeing a part of the local environment and associated with a category ofa plurality of categories; after the image identifier being identified,acquiring an electronic certificate of the category from a server;determining whether a number of categories of acquired electroniccertificates meets a threshold; in response to determining that thenumber of categories meets the threshold, sending a request for thevirtual object to the server; and receiving, from the server, thevirtual object.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the operationsfurther comprise: displaying a plurality of pictures corresponding tothe acquired electronic certificates, wherein each of the plurality ofpictures corresponds to one of the plurality of categories.
 12. Thedevice of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise: beforeacquiring the image of the local environment, displaying a prompt on areal-time scanning interface having a background picture that is a realscene image of the local environment.
 13. The device of claim 12,wherein displaying the plurality of pictures, comprises: superposing andintegrating the plurality of pictures with the real scene image of thelocal environment, wherein each of the plurality of pictures is locatedat a position corresponding to the image identifier in the image of thelocal environment.
 14. The device of claim 13, wherein each of theplurality of pictures includes a number of the acquired electroniccertificates of a category that the picture corresponds to.
 15. Thedevice of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise: displayinga sharing control on a first picture of the plurality of pictures forsharing an acquired electronic certificate of the category that thefirst picture corresponds to; and in response to a user input selectingthe sharing control, displaying a sharing interface for the user toshare the acquired electronic certificate of the category that the firstpicture corresponds to.
 16. The device of claim 12, wherein the promptincludes a circular scanning frame dynamically rotating at a center ofthe background picture and text prompting the user to acquire the imageof the local environment.
 17. The device of claim 16, wherein theoperations further comprise: dynamically updating the text according toa result of identifying the image identifier in the image.
 18. Thedevice of claim 10, wherein the electronic certificate is a virtual cardand the virtual object is a virtual packet of a monetary amount.
 19. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured withinstructions executable by one or more processors to cause the one ormore processors to perform operations comprising: acquiring an image ofa local environment of a user; identifying an image identifier in theimage, the image identifier being a part of the local environment andassociated with a category of a plurality of categories; after the imageidentifier being identified, acquiring an electronic certificate of thecategory from a server; determining whether a number of categories ofacquired electronic certificates meets a threshold; in response todetermining that the number of categories meets the threshold, sending arequest for the virtual object to the server; and receiving, from theserver, the virtual object.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:displaying a plurality of pictures corresponding to the acquiredelectronic certificates, wherein each of the plurality of picturescorresponds to one of the plurality of categories.